Stepping musical machine

ABSTRACT

A stepping musical machine for physical and acoustic training of children such that stepping-boards are arranged on a jumpy sheet, a net or the like stretched in a taut condition and which is adapted so that when children jump on the stepping-boards while playing on the machine particular sounds corresponding to the respective stepping-boards are produced.

United States Patent Kurosaki et a1.

Dec. 2, 1975 STEPPING MUSICAL MACHINE Inventors: Minoru Kurosaki;Tsutomu Nakamura; Akira Matuki; Okikazu Mogami; Yoshitomo Tsugu;Masatoshi Morikawa, all of Kawasaki, Japan Nippon Columbia KabushikiKaisha, Japan Filed: Aug. 12, 1974 Appl. No.: 496,557

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 275,694, July 27,1972, abandoned.

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 12, 1972 Japan 47-17539[U] Feb.18, 1972 Japan 47-20245[U] Apr. 4, 1972 Japan 47-39726[Ul U.S. Cl.84/].01; 84/423; 84/464; 84/477 R; 84/478; 84/DIG. 25

Int. CL ..A63J 17/00; G09B 15/04; GlOC 3/14;G10H 5/00 Field of Search84/1.0l, 1.16, 1.17, 464.

84/470, DIG. 25, 423, 471, 477 R, 478, 483;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,566,202 12/1925 Giller84/464 2,879,685 3/1959 Page 84/470 3,085,460 4/1963 Edwards 84/l.l6 X3,596,024 7/1971 Smith ct a1... ZOO/86.5 3,736,832 6/1973 Franke ct al.84/464 3,749,810 7/1973 Dow 84/117 X 3,754,495 8/1973 Honcgger. 84/1111X Primary Examiner-L. T. Hix

Assistant Examiner-Stanley J. Witkowski Attorney, Agent, or FirmHill,Gross, Simpson, Van Santen, Stcadman, Chiara & Simpson [57] ABSTRACT Astepping musical machine for physical and acoustic training of childrensuch that stepping-boards are arranged on a jumpy sheet, a net or thelike stretched in a taut condition and which is adapted so that whenchildren jump on the stepping-boards while playing on the machineparticular sounds corresponding to the respective stepping-boards areproduced.

1 Claim, 14 Drawing Figures Sheet 3 of 8 E :2 N Q J. I: I1 m 1 l M E5ME? ME? w m A Q H5 m Q E? m w m5 1 HE n m QM. m N$ n Q n Q E511 I Em E?Em 1 SE m g I; IL v Kwv WE m m v QQQQ n w Em E @w Em mg m w a? @w a Mwwg iWL Q2 5 02 M.

us. P 2, 1975 U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet4 of8 3,922,944

ii: I m s M g m m mg E? E2 m w fi m 702 L L Li 1% US. Patent Dec. 2,1975 Sheet 5 bf8 3,922,944

AMP

jib

AMP

U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 8 of8 3,922,944

STEPPING MUSICAL MACHINE This is a continuation of application Ser. No.275,694, filed July 27; 1972, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a stepping musical machine which is a combination of knownsporting goods with a musical instrument, and more particularly to astepping musical machine which is designed so that switching meansassociated with the stepping-boards are turned on and off by childrenjumping up on the steppingboards to produce sounds of particular scalescorresponding to the stepping-boards.

2. Description of the Prior Art Sporting goods such as a trampoline andthe like are known on which children play jumping up on an elasticsheet, while an apparatus which produces musical sounds by stepping on astairs-like floor is also known under the name of do-re-mi-fa staircase.These sporting goods and musical apparatus are used independently ofeach other and not used in combination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of this invention is to provide astepping musical machine in which musical sounds are produced bychildren jumping up on the machine to enable physical and acoustictraining of them simultaneously.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stepping musicalmachine which is suitable for physical training of children to enablesthem to respond rapidly to a horn of vehicles such as motor cars.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stepping musicalmachine which is suitable for acoustic training of children by producingmusical sounds when they jump up on the machine simultaneously.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stepping musicalmachine which enables physical and acoustic training of childrensimultaneously by appealing to their eyes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stepping musicalmachine in which stepping-boards producing sounds of the fundamentalscales are arranged on a base. Another object of this invention is toprovide a stepping musical machine in which a plurality ofstepping-boards are arranged at random and they are coupled with soundproducing means by wi re or wireless.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stepping musicalmachinewhich produces sounds of the scales more than the n umber ofstepping-boards used.

Another object of this invention is'to provide a stepping musicalmachine which is'adapted so that stepping-boards fall in parallel with abase when jumped on.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a stepping musicalmachine which has an adapter to permit many children to play on themachine at one time.

BRIEFDESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. '1 is an exterior perspective viewof one example of a stepping musical machine of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram, for explaining electrical connections ofthe machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a stepping-boardused in the example of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another example of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram, for explaining electrical connections ofthe example of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram, for explaining another example similar tothat of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view. for explaining indicating lamps and an adapterfor use in this invention;

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram for enabling indication and programming;

FIG. 9 is a side view, partly in section. for explaining another exampleof the stepping-board:

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line X-X in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a system diagram for exaplaining wireless transmitting andreceiving apparatus used in this invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of a separatetype steppingmusical machine of this invention:

FIG. 13 is a cubic layout ofa separate stepping musical machine of thisinvention; and

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of one examlple of switching meansemployed in the example of FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the drawingsthis invention will be described in detail. Reference numeral 1indicates generally a stepping musical machine of this invention. whichis equipped in recreation grounds, parks. kindergartens or the like, 2its base portion, which is suitably shaped and has housed thereinoscillators, amplifier and so on and has sound emission apertures 3formed in side walls thereof. Reference numerals 4a to 4h designatejumping boards which are adapted to emit sounds corresponding to, forexample, respective scales such as C, D, E, F, G. A, B and C whenchildren jump thereupon and down onto them. The physical construction ofeach board is shown in FIG. 3 and will be described later on.

Reference numeral 5 identifies hand-rails which are stretched betweenpoles planted at corners or marginal portions of the base portion 2. Ifnecessary. the stepping musical machine 1 is covered with a roof 6.

The sound emitting apparatus disposed in the aforesaid base portion 2consists of switches to 7b which are closed by the downward movement ofthe boards 4a to 4h, as depicted in FIG. 2. The one contact of eachswitch is connected in common to an electrode of a power source 8, whichis grounded at the other electrode. while the other ends of the switchesare connected to gate circuits 9a to 9h respectively. The gate circuits9a to 9h are supplied with signals with oscillation frequencies fromoscillators 10a to 10/2 respectively and the outputs of the gatecircuits 9a to 9h are connected together to a series circuit includingan amplifter II and a speaker 12. The operation of this cir- "cuitry,will be described. When a child gets on one of the bjoardsfla "to 411,the switch. for example, 7a is closed to permit the application of thesignal with oscillation frequency from the oscillator 10a to the gatecircuit 9a and a sound signal corresponding to C (do") is fed throughthe gate circuit 9a to the amplifier 11. causing the speaker 12 to emita sound corresponding to C through the sound emitting apertures 3.

In FIG. 3, there is illustrated the construction of each of the jumpingboards 4a to 4h. An opening 13 is formed in an upper plate 2' of thebase portion 2 in accordance with the configuration of each jumpingboard and the board slightly projects upwardly of the upper plate 2'.Reference numeral 14 indicates a limiting plate for limiting thedownward movement of the board when the latter is stepped upon. Thelimiting plate 14 is bridged across the opening 13 and is fixed to theunderside ofthe upper plate 2'. Reference numeral 15 identifies anaperture bored in the limiting plate 14, through which an invertedsubstantially U-shaped metal fitting 16 is passed. Reference numeral 17designates a bracket for holding parallel links 18 and 19, which bracketis attached by screws 20 to the limiting plate 14. The parallel links 18and 19 are pivoted at one end to the bracket 17 by pins 21 and 22 and atthe other end to the metal fitting 16 by pins 23 and 24. The metalfitting 16 is fixed by screws 25 to the board and passed through theaperture 15 of the limiting plate 14 as described above. On both sidesof the metal fitting 16 there are provided upward movement limitingmetal fittings 26a and 26b in contact with the neighborhood of theaperture 15 of the limiting plate 14, by means of which the upwardmovement of the limiting plate 14 is limited. The metal fittings 26a and26); are substantially L-shaped and buffer members 27 are provided onthe metal fittings 26a and 26b on the side of the underside of thelimiting plate 14. On the underside of each ofthe boards 4a to 4h thereare provided suitable buffer members 28 and compression springs 29. Thebuffer member 28 serves as a damper when the board is pressed down andthe compression spring 29 performs a similar function but acts to biasthe board upwardly. Reference numeral 30 indicates a cam which ismounted on the side wall of the metal fitting 16 and presses an actuator32 of a micro-switch (one of the switches 7a to 71; shown in FIG. 2)when the board is stepped down. actuating the micro-switch. Referencenumeral 31 designates fittings for fixing the microswitch to thelimiting plate 14.

With the present invention, each of the boards 4a to 411 are constructedas described above, so that, for example. when the board is stepped on,it goes down against the compression spring 29. Since the metal fitting16 is coupled with the limiting plate 14 through the parallel links 18and 19, the board 4a goes down substantially in parallel with the upperplate 2' of the base portion 2 regardless of the position on the boardwhere it is stepped on, causing the cam 30 to actuate a correspondingone of the micro-switches 7a to 7b. Further. even if exposed to anexcessive force, the boards 4a to 4h are supported by the upper faces ofthe limiting plates 14 with the buffer members 28 therebetween, andhence do not go down any further. Releasing the force applied to theboard 4a, the board 40 rises due to the spring force of the compressionspring 29 and the upward movement limiting metal fittings 26a and 26bmove into engagement with the limiting plate 14 through the buffermember 27 to hold the board 4a in position.

Where tension springs 33 are interposed between the bottom of the metalfitting l6 and the underside of the limiting plate 14 in place of thecompression spring 29 shown in FIG. 3, the board goes down in parallelwith the upper p ate 2' of the base 2 and rolling of the board can beavoided. Further, the spring force of the tension spring 33 can beadjusted relatively easily by adjusting screws 34.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example of this invention. In the figure,reference numerals 35,36, 37 and 38a to 38g correspond to those 1, 2, 3and 4a to 43 in FIG. 1. The number of the jumping bords is naturallylimited 4 by the size ofthe base 2 and ifthe number ofthe boardsdisposed is small. not so many tunes cannot be played. In order toincrease the number of tunes which can be played, the present exampleemploys second jumping boards 39a and 39b in addition to the jumpingboards 38a to 38g for the respective musical scales.

With reference to FIG. 5, a description will be given of the case wherean octave switching mechanism is employed. In the figure. dashed blocksare novel parts and the others are the same as those in FIG. 2 andmarked with the same reference numerals and no detailed description willbe given of the latter.

Namely. gate circuits 40a to 4012 are provided in addition to the gatecircuits 9a to 9/1 and they are connected to the oscillators 10a to 1011respectively as shown in FIG. 5. The oscillation frequencies of theoscillators 10a to 1011 are divided by first frequency divider circuits41a to 4111 respectively to provide frequencies which are lower than theoscillation frequencies of the oscillators 10a to 1011 by one octave andwhich are applied to second gate circuits 42a to 4211 respectively. Theoutputs of the first frequency divider circuits 41a to 4112 are furtherapplied to second frequency divider circuits 43a to 43h respectively toobtain frequencies which are lower than the oscillation frequencies ofthe oscillators 10a to 1011 by two octaves and which are applied tothird gate circuits 44a to 44h respectively. The outputs of each triadof the gate circuits 40a, 42a and 44a to 40h, 4211 and 44h are appliedto each of the gate circuits 9a to 911 through a common line, asdepicted in the figure. The other inputs of the gate circuits 40a, 42aand 44a to 40h, 42h and 44h are supplied with signals from a powersource 47 connected to a fixed contact 46 of a switch 45 which is turnedon in response to the depression of the boards 39a and 39b shown in FIG.4. Namely, contacts 48, 49 and 50 are connected to the gate circuits 40ato 40h, 42a to 4211 and 44a to 4411 respectively. A contact piece isnormally in contact with the contact 48. With such an arrangement, whenchildren are playing a tune by selectively stepping on the boards 38a to38h, the contact piece of the fixed contact 46 of the switch 45 normallylies on the contact 48, so that the scales of, for example, C areapplied from the gate circuits 40a to 40h to those 9a to 9h to turn onone or more of the switches 7a to 7h, emitting sounds of predeterminedscales. Further, in the case of a low (high) scale unobtainable with anyof the aforesaid seven boards, for example, when the boards 38a and 39aare simultaneously stepped on, the contact of the fixed contact 46 ofthe switch 45 is connected to the contact 49 to turn on the gatecircuits 42a and 9a concurrently, emitting a sound of the scale lower(high) by one octave from the speaker 12. Stepping on the second boards39a and 39b simultaneously, the contact piece of the fixed contact 46 isconnected to the contact 50 to turn on the gate circuits 44a and 9aconcurrently, producing a sound of a scale lower (higher) by two octavesfrom the speaker 12. The same is true of the other scales. The foregoingdescription has been given in connection with the case where the boards39a and 39b and one of the boards 38a to 383 are simultaneously steppedon. However, the purpose can be served by making the board 39a or 39binoperative and turning on and off the switch 45 held by a child whilejumping or controlling the switch 45 with a remote switch held by thechild. Further, it is also possible to bring the contact piece of thecontact 46 to a predetermined octave position by previously coupling theswitch 45 to a knob 51a shown in FIG. 4. While the foregoing hasdescribed the switching of three octaves, the switching of ns octaves isalso possible. In the foregoing, the oscillation frequencies of theoscillators a to 10h are divided to provide frequencies different fromthe original ones by one octave but it is possible to provideoscillators whose oscillation frequencies differ by one octave for therespective gate circuit groups.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of this invention which has asemitone switching function and which is similar in construction to theexample of FIG. 5 except the parts surrounded by a chain line. In dashedblocks, oscillators 41a to 4111 having an oscillation frequency higherthan that of the reference oscillator 10a by a semitone and oscillators43a to 43h having an oscillation frequency lower than that of theoscillator 10a by a semitone are connected to the gate circuits 42a to4211 and 44a to 44h respectively in place of the aforementionedfreuqency divider circuits. The oscillation frequencies of theoscillators 10a, 41a and 43a are selected, for example, corresponding toC, C and C b respectively and a switch 52a is provided for switching theoscillators 10a, 41a and 43a. The oscillation frequencies of theoscillators 10b, 41b and 4312' are selected corresponding to D, D and Db and a switch 52b is provided for switching these oscillators. The sameprocedure is applied to the other remaining oscillators. To this end,the contact pieces of fixed contacts 54a to 54h of the switches 52a to52h are normally turned down to contacts 55a to 55h and the contacts 55ato 55/1 are connected to the gate circuits 40a to 40h respectively andcontacts 56a to 56h and 57a to 5711 are connected to the gate circuits42a to 42h and 44a to 44h respectively. These switches 52a to 5211 arerespectively associated with the knobs 51a to 51h shown in FIG. 4. Withsuch an arrangement, when a child is about to play a tune by stepping onthe boards 38a to 38g corresponding to the scales of C major and thetune to be played is, for example, in F major, only the oscillatorcorresponding to B is changed over by the switch to the oscillator whoseoscillation frequency is lower than that of the reference oscillator bya semitone, thus playing the tune of F major. In a similar manner,scales in respective majors or minors can be obtained.

The example of FIG. 6 has been described separately to employoscillators whose oscillation frequencies are higher and lower than thatof the reference oscillators by a semitone. In order to change theoscillation frequency of the reference oscillators intermittently, it isalso possible, of course, to connect trimmer capacitors or the like ofdifferent values to the oscillation circuits in parallel and change overthem.

In the above example, the switches 52a to 52h are attached to the basebut it is also possible to dispose them outside of the base and changeover them by a third person to a childs playing while following a score.

One example of a construction convenient for such an operation willhereinbelow be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Withthe construction of this example, it is possible to achieve physical andacoustic training simultaneously while appealing to the eye. FIG. 7 is aplan view ofa stepping musical machine similar to that shown in FIG. 4;which has the jumping boards 58a to 58h. The figure shows the upper flatsurface 61 and the outer periphery of a base 59 in the neighborhood ofthe bottom thereof. The base 59 is 6 substantially trapezoidal incross-section. A score 62 is engraved or drawn on the upper flat surfaceof the base 59 and scale indicating lamps 63a to 6311 corresponding tothe boards 58a to 5811 are disposed on the score and switchingly lightedwhen the boards are stepped on, or alternatively, an indicator boardwith a score drawn thereon is placed in front of the machine to indicatethe position of the lamp on the score being lighted. A child on themachine steps on the boards while observing the position of the lampbeing lighted.

In FIG. 8, the indicating lamps 63a to 6311 indicating the scales on thescore 62 of the machine 59 are grounded at one end; the positive side ofa power source 64 having the negative side grounded is con nected tomovable contacts 65a to 6511 which move in ganged relation to the boards58a to 5811 respectively; the other ends of the indicating lamps 63a to63/1 are connected to fixed contacts 66a to 6611 respectively; and theother fixed contacts 67a to 6712 are connected to ends of indicatinglamps 69a to 6911 indicating the scales on a score of an indicatingboard 68. The indicating lamps 69a to 6911 are grounded at one end andconnected at the other end to the positive side of the power source 64through normally opened switches 71a to 71h of an operating board 70.

With this construction, when a child gets on one of the boards 58a to5811. the scale corresponding to the board being stepped on is indicatedboth on the indicating board and on the machine and. by the operation ofthe switches 71a to 7111 of the operating board 70. it is possible toprovide an imdependent indication instructing the board to be steppedon. The foregoing examples have been described in connection with thecase where the scales are changed in response to the fall of the boardsbut cries of animals can be produced, in which case pictures of theanimals are indicated.

In order that many children may play on the base 59 of the machine suchas shown in FIG. 7, the diameter D of the base 59 must be selectedappreciably large. The base 59 actually produced was 1,380mm in thediameter D 200 mm in height and 1,600 mm in the diameter of the bottom.Thus, an increase in the size of the base 59 introduces a difficulty inthe fabrication of the base itself in terms of strength and so on andcauses inconvenience in its transportation.

To avoid this, the stepping musical machine is produced small and with acentral opening D of, for example, a doughnut-shaped step 72 is selecteda little greater than the diameter D of the base 59 and the step isdetachably assembled with the base 59. If necessary, legs 73 can beattached by oval countersunk screws 74 to the step 72 as in FIG. 7.Another example of the boards 38a to 38h is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.With the illustrated construction, the boards can be produced at lowcost and they go down in parallel and do not twist regardless of theposition thereon where they are stepped on, ensuring actuation of themicro-switches.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 36 indicates a circular base similar tothat depicted in FIG. 4. A plate portion 368 is formed immediatelyoutside of a central plate portion 36A of the base 36 at a positionhigher than the latter and a plate portion 36C is formed outside of theplate portion 36B at height between the plate portions 36A and 36B andthe marginal portion of the plate portion 36C is bent upward to form aplate portion 36D higher than the plate portion 363. The board 36 issecured to the base with the marginal plate portion 36D being directlyattached thereto. A round aperture 75 is 7 formed in the central plateportion 36A and a circular aperture 76 is formed in the plate portion36C.

A disc 78 is attached to the central plate portion 36A with a circularrubber plate 77 being interposed therebetwen and a microswitch 79 ismounted on the disc 78 on underside thereof. Further. a cylindricalmember 81 having a flange 80 integrally formed at the upper end thereofis inserted into an aperture formed in the disc 78 and the flange 80 issecured to the disc 78 to thereby fix the cylindrical member 81 to thebase 36. In this case, notches 82 and 83 are formed in the cylindricalmember 81 at diametrically opposite positions thereof, which notchesextend upwardly from the central portion of the cylindrical member 81 inits axial direction, and the one notch 82 is formed to face an actuator84 of the aforesaid micro-switch 79.

While, the marginal portion of each of the disc like boards 38a to 3811is bent down. A disc 85 bent with its central portion projecting down isattached to the un derside of the board and a flange 87 formed at theupper end portion of a central shaft 86 is secured to the disc 85thereby to fix the shaft 86 to the board. The outer diameter of thecentral shaft 86 is a little smaller than the inner diameter of theaforesaid cylindrical member 81 and has formed integrally therewithprojections 88 and 89 having tapered lower end portions 88A and 89A atthe diametrically opposite positions thereof upwardly of its centralportion in its axial direction.

The central shaft 86 secured to the board is inserted into thecylindrical member 81 from above. In this case, the projections 88 and89 formed on the central shaft 86 are engaged with the notches 82 and 83of the cylindrical member 81 respectively. Accordingly. the

central shaft 86, that is, the board does not rotate relative to thebase 36. The lower end face of the central shaft 86 projecting out fromthe lower end ofthe cylindrical member 81 has attached thereto, forexample, a triangular plate 90 and biasing springs 91 to 93 arestretched between lugs 78A of the disc 78 and corners of the plate 90,by which the central shaft 86, that is, the board is biased upwardly.Further, an engaging plate 94 is attached. for example. to the undersideof the disc 78, while a substantially L-shaped engaging piece 95 isattached to the disc 85 secured to the board. When the board is biasedupwardly described above, the engaging piece 95 abuts with the plate 94as shown, thus holding the board at a predetermined height.

An annular buffer member 96 made as of felt is mounted on the plateportion 368 of the base plate 36.

With the construction described above, when no load is applied to theboard, the board is held at the predetermined height as described above.in which case a roller 97 attached to the free end of the actuator 84 ofthe switch 79 faces the tapered surface 88A of the projection 88 formedon the central shaft 86 and the actuator 84 does not press an actuatingmember 98 to hold the switch 79 in the off state and to produce nosound. When a child jumps on the board. the board falls against thebiasing force of the springs 91 to 93 with the central shaft 86 beingguided by the cylindrical member 81 and the roller 97 attached to theactuator 84 of the switch 79 is urged against the tapered surface 888 ofthe projection 88 formed on the central shaft 86, by which the actuatingmember 98 is pressed to turn on the switch 79. As a result of this, apredetermined sound is produced through a sound generator, though notshown. In this case, the underside of the board 8 abuts against thebuffer member 96, so that the downward movement of the board is therebylimited.

Mud. water and so on may get in a gap between the board and the marginalplate portion 360 of the base plate but they can be drained out throughthe aperture 76 formed in the plate portion 36C.

Also. it is possible to attach a cylindrical member to the board and ashaft is provided on the base unlike the illustrated example. Further.it is also possible for a sound producing member to be directly actuatedwithout controlling the switch when the board has fallen down to apredetermined position.

In the foregoing examples. a plurality of boards are arranged on thebase, so that their arrangement cannot be changed as desired. Thisdefect can be overcome in other examples of this invention. which willbe described in connection with FIGS. 11 and 12.

In the example of HG. 11, a plurality of stepping musical machine units99a to 9911 are suitably arranged. The base of each unit has housedtherein a transmitter device. Reference numerals 100a to 100/1 indicateboards which are adapted to turn on switches SWa to SWh or actuatehammers or the like to hit ultrasonic vibrators or the likecorresponding to the scales, for example C to C when the boards arestepped on. Reference characters Xa to Xh designate mechanical filters,ultrasonic vibrators, tuning forks or the like, which are selected tooscillate at different frequencies corresponding to the respective units99a to 99h. Reference characters Aa to Ah identify antennas fortransmitting.

When the boards are selectively stepped on, signals of particularfrequency are transmitted from the antennas Art to Ah corresponding tothe boards being stepped on and are received by an antenna 102 of areceiver 101. In the receiver 101, only particular frequency componentsfrom the respective transmitting antennas Aa to Ah are selected byselectors Ta to Tf; the selected signals are amplified by an amplifier101a; gate circuits Ga to Gh. which produce scales determined byoscillators 101a to 101'11 are selective turned on by the amplifiedoutput of the amplifier; and a sound of a particular scale is producedfrom a speaker SP through an amplifier 101b.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example of this invention, in which a dampermaterial and/or spring 104 is packed in a flexible base 103 andtransmitters Xa to X71 and SWa to SW11 are placed in the bases 103respectively while being protected by the damper material 104 andtransmitting antennas Aa to Ah are wound respectively on theinnersurfaces of the bases.

With reference to FIGS. 13 and 14 a description will be made of a devicewhich transmits a signal to the sound producing device by wire. Theboards 99a to 99f are identical in construction with those shown in FIG.

12 but house therein only switches in this case. When the boards arestepped on by a child, the switches are turned on and their signalcomponents are applied to a gate circuit 106 through a cables a to 105fand then to speaker apparatus 108 through an amplifier 107, producing asound therefrom. Further, in FIG. 13 the boards 99a to 99f are providedseparately. However. if oscillators including a plurality of switchdevices or switches are provided in a sheet, for example, a carpet ofwide width which has buffer characteristic and wires are bundledtogether in the sheet to provide an output. it is possible to freelychange the scale arrangement by changing the wires through the switchesin the way to the amplifier. One example of the switch housed in theboards 99a to 99f is shown in FIG. 14. The switch is desired to beturned on regardless of the position thereon where the child gets on.This can be achieved by providing a plurality of switches under theboard but this method is expensive. In the present example, theunderside of a sheet 109 of synthetic resin or the like havingsubstantially the same size as the board is made to be electricallyconductive and, if necessary, a checkered conductive pattern is formedon the underside of the sheet 109 and a lead wire 105a is led outtherefrom. While, a plurality of conductive projections 111 are plantedon a sheet metal or a non-metallic plate 110, which is attached to theunderside of the sheet 109. Where the plate 110 is non-metallic, acheckered conductive pattern 112 is formed thereon, by which it isensured that the switch is actuated irrespective of the position thereonwhere it is stepped on, because the sheet 109 is pressed in thedirection indicated by an arrow. This construction can be simplified bymoulding the aforesaid sheet together with the plurality of projectionsusing conductive rubber or the like and by forming the plate 110 with asheet metal. In this case, the sheet resistance of the plate 110 isdifferent, so that its difference is associated with a variable resistorfor volume control of the amplifier 107, thereby enabling volume controldepending on whether the board is stepped on with one or both toes.

It will be apparent that many modifications and variations may beeffected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of thisinvention.

We claim as our invention:

1. An educational andamusement musical device comprising, a base membercomprising a horizontal surface where a person can walk around, aplurality of musical jumping boards mounted on a portion of saidhorizontal surface and spaced such that a person can selectively step onto selected musical jumping boards or can step on the portion of saidsurface not having musical jumping boards. means for supporting saidmusical jumping boards in such a manner that said musical jumping boardsmove up and down with their surfaces going down substantially inparallel with the horizontal surface of said base member when the personsteps on said musical jumping boards at any position thereof, aplurality of musical tone producing means individually connected toindividual jumping boards and respectively mounted in proximity to itsrespective jumping boards and the spatial arrangement of said pluralityof jumping boards being spaced such that a person can selectively stepon said horizontal surface during the selection of the next desiredmusical note. further including light means connected to and energizedby said jumping boards as they are stepped upon, and wherein said lightmeans comprises a plurality of light bulbs corresponding to the numberofjumping boards which are respectively illuminated as a particularjumping board is stepped upon, a musical score formed on the uppersurface of said base member and said plurality of light bulbs mounted onsaid musical score with each light bulb adjacent a respective jump boardsuch that when it is illuminated it indicates on the musical score thenote corresponding to its particular jumping board.

1. An educational and amusement musical device comprising, a base membercomprising a horizontal surface where a person can walk around, aplurality of musical jumping boards mounted on a portion of saidhorizontal surface and spaced such that a person can selectively step onto selected musical jumping boards or can step on the portion of saidsurface not having musical jumping boards, means for supporting saidmusical jumping boards in such a manner that said musical jumping boardsmove up and down with their surfaces going down substantially inparallel with the horizontal surface of said base member when the personsteps on said musical jumping boards at any position thereof, aplurality of musical tone producing means individually connected toindividual jumping boards and respectively mounted in proximity to itsrespective jumping boards and the spatial arrangement of said pluralityof jumping boards being spaced such that a person can selectively stepon said horizontal surface during the selection of the next desiredmusical note, further including light means connected to and energizedby said jumping boards as they are stepped upon, and wherein said lightmeans comprises a plurality of light bulbs corresponding to the numberof jumping boards which are respectively illuminated as a particularjumping board is stepped upon, a musical score formed on the uppersurface of said base member and said plurality of light bulbs mounted onsaid musical score with each light bulb adjacent a respective jump boardsuch that when it is illuminated it indicates on the musical score thenote corresponding to its particular jumping board.